The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-08-04
INTERNAL TAXES, PAST AND PRES,
ENr.


Since the imposition of internal taxes,
which were frat collected In 1858, the
government has collected from this
source, up unit the 30th of June last,
the eD0 0rmOus aggregate of $3, 762 OUO,
600. OF this vast sum 81 208 OOOO QUO was
collected from spirits. $24S 600 COO frcm
fermenttd liquors, and $S48,OU0 GOO from
tobacco. These are now the three Drtn
clpal sources of internal taxation.
Last year 1928 600 from Ole0marRarine,
q new tax. In tho war period, and
until 1869, there were other taxes, on
Incomes, etc, that yielded largely.
The total collected from internal rev
enue In these "a years Is thousand
millions OF dollars more than the high
eat notch the public debt reached In
1866, which was $2,773,000,000. In fact,
the collections from liquor and tobacco
alone come within $400,000,000 Of that
mighty aggregate. If the military
operations OF the war of the rebellion
seem to the student Of today to have
heen on a gigantic scale, DO less were
the financial operations, for to these
internal taxes must be added the GUS
toms taxes and the bonded debt. These
three sources represent where the
money came from. 1t has been roughly
estimated as aggregatiRg i've thousand
millions OF dollars.
The Internal revenue report for last
year, just Issued by Commissioner Mil
ler, and an abstract Of which was
printed In yesterdays Pest, shows an
Increase OF two millions compared will
the preceding fiscal year. The total is
mn nhnra fu fo1l9nn off nf
over three millions In spirits, an in.
crease Of two millions in tobacco, and
an increase of two and quarter mil
lions In lermentsd liquors. The stalls
tics show that the falling of In receipts
from spirits has occurred chiefly In
those 8 ates where stringent reStric.
tiOns upon the liquor traffic, including
local option, have been adopted. 1t may
be taken as an evidence of the effect OF
that policy upon the liquor trade, There
is also evidence afforded OF a change In
he drinking habits OF the people which
has been frequently noted Of late years.
Is the fact that while the tax receipts
from spirits have fallen off over three
millions, tie tax on malt liquors yields
revenue two and quarter millions OF
dollars mere than the preceding year
This represents largely increased pro
duCtiOn Of beer and ale. Native wines
being exempt from internal revenue
taxation, except when made in fraudu-
lent imitation OF the foreign article,
land then they are very seldom detected
the tax figures of the Internal revenue
bureau give no clue to the increase or
decrease In their use, but other ineiden-
10 ptof lao inhinofn fhat fhn ~
ton of American wines, especially the
red wines of California, Is largely on
the increase. The fact Is indisputable
that the per capita consumption of spir
ltuOus liquors Is steadily decreasing in
the United States, Since 1870 1t has fall
leo off one-half, while the per capita
consumption of malt liquors has very
largely increased. There are those " no
see In these factsa more important tenn
persnce reform than prohibition has
ever worked.
Opponents Of the tobacco habit" will
derive little consolation from the report.
Notwithstanding decrease Of ODe-third
in the rate Of taxation, which was car
ried into effect some years ago, the
receipts from tobacco and Its products
have steadily grown year by year, and
for 1887 were $2,200,000 In excess Of
1876. An unpleasant feature Of the eta.
tistics is that large proportion of the
increase is derived from cigarettes
While there were 3,789,000,0 600 cigars
made In tha United States during the
year, an increase Of 277. 100000, the L.
585, ,000, 600 cigarettes reported showed
nearly an equal increase.-lPtttsburg
Post.